Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree
by Tauna Petit-Strawn
Summary: It's 1950 and Natasha Ballard goes to 'the old Barkley mansion' which is supposed to be haunted. She's determined to see if it is and why. While genre is listed as Supernatural hurt and comfort others will be seen. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"_The art of moving on is letting go of the hope of a better past_."…multiple people.

** ~oOo~**

** 1950**

It was all Natasha Ballard could do to get her horse to move forward, as the wind whipped through the air as hard and as furious as it could. Well, it felt like it was as thunder rolled through the sky and a flash of lightning illuminated the sky.

"_You're crazy!" Natasha's sister, Amelia, stood in their parent's yard staring at her older sister. "That old mansion hasn't had anyone living in it for years. It's not because no one has wanted it; they have."_

_ "I know, I know." Natasha smiled at her sister as she threw her gear over the back of her horse. "It's haunted. Each and every prospective buyer has been run off by the spirits of at least a couple of the original Barkley family members." She said as she put one foot up in the stirrup and threw the other one up and over the horse before sitting down in the saddle. She then leaned forward in the saddle and gave her sister such a determined look it almost scared Amelia. "I know the history of the place, the history of the Barkleys. If any of them are there, I'm not going to do them any harm. That being the case, I can't see them harming me. So, no matter what you say; I'm going to go look at the place."_

As the old Barkley home came into view, Natasha heard her sister's rantings and ravings once more. If her sister had reacted that way to the many stories she'd heard, how would she react if Natasha told her of the dreams she'd been having? For that matter, what would Amelia say if she knew of the things Natasha herself could do? "Keep moving, Gail. We're about there; I can see the house now." It was the truth, and the horse seemed to sense it as she pushed against the wind. By the time Natasha dismounted her horse and led her into the old barn that still stood on the old Barkley ranch the rain was coming down rather hard.

Dismounting her horse, Natasha fought the wind as she took a hold of the old barn door and used all her strength to pry it open. "Go on, girl!" She shouted at the horse above the wind. The horse, which knew her master's voice well and had never given her a bit of trouble, neighed and went inside. After shutting the door, Natasha started doing what she had to in order to make her horse comfortable. "Well, girl," she removed the saddle and sat it down on an old crate and looked around, grateful to see that some of the hay in the old barn was still good. "I'm going to feed you some of this hay. If the Barkleys want me to pay for it, I'll be glad to. Though," she said as she chuckled, "they'll have to let me stay long enough to give them the money." That thought, the idea of giving any spirit money, had her chuckling even more. Though, once she stepped outside the barn and shut the door, the only thing on Natasha's mind was getting to, and inside, the main house.

"Here goes nothing." Natasha lit the kerosene lamp she'd brought with her. She then darted out from under the cover of the barn's awning and made her way to the door closest to her. She wasn't surprised to find it locked. No matter, Natasha simply concentrated on the lock; unlocking doors with her mind was a gift she talked about to no one. Well, she had discussed it with her late grandmother, but that was it. It took a minute or two, but just before sky was once again lit up by lightning, the door opened and Natasha was standing inside.

"Good thing I brought the lamp." Natasha held the lamp in front of her face and made her way down what turned out to be a short hallway that led to the kitchen door or into another hallway; she passed the kitchen and followed the hallway. She soon found herself near the dining room and the stairs that led to the upper floors. As curious as she was to explore the house, due to everything Natasha had read or heard, she still made her way into the living room. After all, there was heat radiating in the room, and she was cold.

If it wasn't for fact that every book or paper written on this place had accounts of a fire already burning in the fireplace when someone actually peeked through the window of the home, Natasha might have thought someone else had beat her to the mansion. As it was, she sat her lamp on the mantle of the fireplace and then sat down on the chair closest to the fireplace. Closing her eyes, Natasha leaned back in the chair and relaxed. If there were any spirits in the house, she would have better luck in feeling them…maybe even seeing them…if she wasn't uptight and trying too hard. Only problem was, she didn't realize how tired she was. Soon Natasha was fast asleep.

The moment she was asleep, Nick Barkley appeared near the fireplace while his brother, Jarrod, appeared near the window. "Don't even think about it, Nick." Jarrod said as Nick took a step towards their sleeping visitor.

"What?" Nick, who kept his eyes on the black haired woman who couldn't be more than five feet two inches, snapped. "I wasn't going to hurt her!"

"No, you were just going to wake her up and demand to know what she was doing on your ranch, and in our home." Jarrod pointed to Natasha and said, "Can't you see she's tired? Let her sleep."

"But she came in through a locked door! No one's ever done that before!" Nick rested the back of his wrists on his hips. "I want to know who she is, what she's doing here and, as I just said, how she got in through a locked door!"

Jarrod was curious too, only he was willing to wait until their visitor woke up. "For once, Nick, be patient." He paused and then added quietly, "I'm going to go get a blanket for her. It's colder in here than she realizes." With that, Jarrod disappeared up the stairs leaving Nick standing where he was, looking down at their visitor.

"He'll probably insist we just keep an eye on you once you wake up." Nick muttered after his brother disappeared around the corner of the upstairs hallway. He might have said more only Jarrod was already coming back down the stairs with a heavy blanket in his arms. Nick moved back to the fireplace and kept his eyes on their visitor as Jarrod covered the young woman up.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Never having been one to sleep in late, Natasha was wide awake at five in the morning. Needless to say, waking up and finding the heavy blanket over her startled her, though it made her smile. It was obvious she was not alone in the house, and that someone had enough compassion to make sure she stayed warm through the night. The fact that it had to be one of the Barkleys was a given, though she pondered for a moment exactly what to do. Should she get up, fold the blanket and find a place to put it, or should she say something out loud…taking the chance of being declared insane if, by some wild chance, someone happened to be passing by? That was a real possibility as, just like her, people were known to stop by once in awhile to see if any of the stories were true. for the stairs, "Thanks for the use of the blanket! I'll just find a place to put it unless you care to show yourself and tell me where to put it!" She wasn't really surprised when no one answered.

An answer was something she would have gotten had Nick and Jarrod not been distracted earlier by a couple of brainless teenagers who thought they'd prowl around the mansion in the early hours of the mornings. Naturally, neither brother had appreciated it. Wanting the boys off the ranch, Nick had succeeded in talking Jarrod into 'having a bit of fun with the boys while their guest slept'. This being the case, Natasha found herself not only putting the blanket into the closet of the first room she came to, but exploring the rest of the house also without any interruptions.

Exploration of the first couple of rooms, with all the 'necessities' a woman would want, told Natasha the rooms had once belonged to Victoria and Audra Barkley. She might have explored the rooms more in depth, only she was more interested in the rooms that were supposed to have belonged to the boys. How could she feel any different when story after story told of them made them seem larger than life, and it had made Natasha as curious as could be?

"Hope you don't mind me looking around. It's still rather stormy looking outside, and I have to do something! Besides, I always have loved history and this place is full of it!" Natasha called out as she entered the third room, something she had called out each time she'd entered a room. She figured she might as well. That way, if anyone was in the house, they'd know she meant no harm.

Natasha ran her hand over the foot board of the bed that still sat in the third room. Its blankets and pillows were still upon the bed. It seemed silly for anyone to leave such things in a house that was no longer in use. She would have thought other people would have taken them long before now. "Oh well," she smiled, as far as she was concerned the items were right where they should be. She then turned around and looked at the chairs and dresser in the room. One look at them and she could tell they were antiques.

"They don't make them like they used too." Natasha ran her hand over the top of the dresser. She was startled, and jumped backwards slightly, as she felt great sorrow overcome her. For a moment she could see a young man around nineteen holding school books in his hands. "Help them" she heard then young man say as he turned and disappeared. Eugene! Somehow, she just knew she was in the room of the youngest Barkley. Stories said he came home and announced he was going to study medicine in Europe for a year, only, sadly, that trip had never taken place. They said Eugene had been found dead in his room the day before he was to leave. What had happened was unclear to Natasha…as one story after another existed when it came to that matter. She had wondered if the stories were true. Now, after what she'd just felt and seen Natasha figured they were only what did the young man mean when he said 'help them'?

The next room had such a warm feeling about it that Natasha took her time in looking around. The dresser, table and chairs were all made of the same type of wood while the bed frame was made of mahogany. Because of the warmth of the room, she reached the window and found herself stopping in her tracks. As she looked through the glass Natasha saw a blonde haired cowboy trying to talk to a nicely dressed gentleman. A tall, dark haired man dressed in black was doing the same thing. Natasha might have thought three strangers were also looking at the Barkly land only there was an unmistakably blue aurora around them…the kind that was always around people who no longer among the living.

Natasha watched as the finely dressed gentleman grew upset. She could almost hear him yell, "Stop it! She's not like that! You're wrong!" Natasha blinked her eyes and only the blonde haired cowboy remained, but then he too disappeared. Blinking her eyes once more, Natasha started to turn around only to be startled to see the same blonde haired gentleman she'd just seen in a vision standing in the corner looking at her. She was even more startled to realize she recognized him as the man from her dreams, the ones that had been pushing her to come to the ranch in the first place.

"What you just saw is a scene from the past." The cowboy said. "I'm glad you finally came. Please, stay and help."

Natasha took a chance and said, due to the fact that one of the description's she'd read in a book, "Heath Barkley? Help who?" Then, thinking of Eugene's request, she asked, "Are the men I saw with you, the ones you want me to help, your brothers?" The fact that she was right as to his identity was made crystal clear as a small, crooked grin appeared on the man's face and he answered her.

"They are." Heath sighed as he began to fade. "One can't move on until he lets go and the other won't until he does. Please, help them." He then faded altogether, leaving Natasha to ponder his words, though she pondered them as she continued her exploration of the upstairs totally unaware her presence was being discussed in the study.

~oOo~

Nick paced back and forth as Jarrod did his best to calm his brother down. "Nick, it's still stormy outside! Of course, she's exploring! What do you expect her to do, just sit and twiddle her thumbs?"

Nick, who was not happy he and his brother had had to deal with the boys outside, thus making it so they weren't with their guest when she awoke, scowled. "I guess not, but I don't see why we don't just confront her! Get the answers you said we could get once she was awake!"

Jarrod sighed and sat down behind his desk. "Go for it; I'll wait here."

His brother's action stopped Nick in his tracks, and he sighed. Of course Jarrod would say that. The man had never once stepped a foot in the upper portion of the house since 'it' had happened, though the family had tried a number of times to get him to do so. That is, after 'a reasonable time had passed'. "It wasn't your fault, Jarrod." Nick made his way to his brother's desk. "You didn't know what she was capable of doing, none of us did."

Jarrod closed his eyes and bowed his head, resting his head on his clasped hands. "That's not quite true. You and Heath had inklings, as did Eugene. The three of you, at one time or another, tried to tell me, but I wouldn't listen and Eugene died because of that. In spite of anything you might say, you know it was my fault! Now I'm stuck here. I don't know why you just don't leave!"

Nick threw his hands up in the air. He knew his brother had it wrong, but he was failing once again to convince Jarrod of that. "I told you before…I'm not leaving here without you! Also, what happened in the past is HER fault! What is it going to take to get you to see that?" When Jarrod did not answer, Nick again threw his hands up and changed subjects. "For your sake, I'll leave our unexpected guest alone until she comes downstairs."

"Fine," Jarrod answered never once lifting his head.

Nick shook his head and said, "If you need me, I'll be in the Billiard room." He then disappeared from the room, wishing he knew how to get his brother to see that, not only had he been completely innocent of past events, but that the only thing that had him stuck in the mansion was his refusal to let go of false guilt and an unchangeable past. Nick sighed; more than anything he wished he knew how to get Jarrod to do just that….let go of the past so they could both move on.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

After her visit with Heath, Natasha had made her way down the hall. She had intended survey the other two rooms, but she was more than shook up and found that she could do no such thing.

Standing at the door of the first of the two rooms gave her such a feeling of frustration and anger that she had no desire to enter in. Well, not at that moment anyway. When she headed for the second one, there was such an overwhelming sense of loss and misplaced guilt; it had nearly knocked her over.

Finding herself is that type of situation she tossed everything she'd ever heard about the other Barkley brothers over in her mind, trying to figure out whose room was whose. It was only then that she realized that the stories she'd heard about them held only three consistent facts; one, Nick had a thing for the Billiard room; two, Jarrod liked his study; and three, a woman full of lies and illusions who had caused major heartache for the family. It was only then did she begin to wonder if the woman and Eugene's death were somehow connected.

"Well," she said to no one in particular, as she started walking down the hallway, "Don't know which room I'll reach first, only it looks like I'm crazy enough to both play pool and see just what kind of books are in this house."

As she descended the stairs, Natasha made sure she stayed relaxed so as to keep herself from blocking any feelings that might attempt to come to her. By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs her plans to go to the closet room to her had changed. While farthest room from her held the same anger and frustration that she'd felt at the first bedroom earlier, Natasha realized that nothing would be accomplished until that anger was gone. Whether or not she liked that, she knew that meant entering the farthest room first.

By the time she reached the open double doors, Natasha could see it was the Billiard room. She caught her breath and then drew in gulps of air, making it so her nerve, which had threatened to flee, remained calm. She had to for she could see the back of one of the men she'd seen with Heath standing on the farthest side of the pool table. Once she thought on the other descriptions she'd read, Natasha knew the facts she'd heard just had to be correct, and she stepped inside the room.

The moment he heard someone other than his brother enter the room Nick turned around. While he was not surprised to see the young woman who had entered their home the night before standing in front of him, he was shocked beyond measure to realize she was looking right at him. She shouldn't be able to see him when he hadn't done anything to establish a connection, or so Nick thought anyway.

"You can see me?" Nick asked, with both annoyance and wonderment in his voice.

Natasha walked towards him and the pool table. "I hope so; either that or I'm talking to myself." Natasha answered as her eyes went from him to the pool table. If just knew if she was to get any answers, she just had to get the famous rancher to relax. "As long as we're talking to each other," she asked as she picked up a pool stick that lay on the table and grinned, "mind if I try to get some of these balls to follow directions?"

Nick eyed her suspiciously, but nodded. "Go ahead." He snapped; he didn't really like this visitor invading 'his territory'. If it wasn't for the fact that he wantedanswers, Nick would have tried to run her off like he had other "visitors", such as the young boys he and Jarrod had dealt with that morning. "Who are you and how did you get into this house? The doors have been locked for years!" He asked rather bluntly as she set the balls up and prepared to see if she could indeed dropt any of the balls into the pockets.

'_Well, the stories did his temper justice, though they didn't give his looks enough credit.' _Natasha thought as she couldn't help but smile a little. "Name's Natasha Ballard," she answered, as she hit the white ball in front of her. She wasn't surprised when it hit a couple of balls, but sank none. She wasn't exactly known for her pool skills. "As far as getting through locked doors go," she shook her head and sighed, wondering if she told him the truth would she find herself being chased out of the house. "I…I don't understand it, only I can do a lot of things others can't." She looked Nick straight in the eye and answered honestly, deciding that lying was both wrong and useless. "Like seeing you," For the moment, she decided against admitting she'd seen Eugene and talked to Heath. No, that was one she could confess later. She then watched a very unsettled look come over Nick's face. She wasn't' really surprised, but simply went back to seeing what damage she could do to her "game".

Nick was very ill at ease. "What do you want?" He asked, the suspicion he felt still in his voice.

"Honestly?" Natasha straightened up as she watched yet another ball come close to the pocket she'd aimed for only to stop, teeter and then stay where it was. "I really have no clue. I just heard so many stories, and read so many books about this place, that it made me as curious as a cat." She took another shot at the ball in front of her, "I know…curiosity killed the cat. Let's just hope it doesn't do the same to me." She stepped back as she watched her shot fail once more.

Nick still didn't know what to think about Natasha only he'd had enough of watching her 'play' pool. "Oh good grief!" He marched around the table and wrapped his hands around her shoulders and took a hold of her hands and the pool stick. "If you're going to play, you might as well learn how to hold the d…" he stopped himself from cursing and continued, "pool cue."

Natasha smiled and let him be teacher for the time being while she made any conversation between. She kept the talk was kept light. If she was going to get Nick to open up, she had to do what she could not to give him a justified reason to get mad at her. Unfortunately, she felt that meant asking very few questions when it came to him, Jarrod or why they were still hanging around. Well, at least for the time being she did. However, she promised herself that the first chance she got she was going to visit the study also. How could she not? She'd felt drawn to the place for such a long time and, from the moment she rode onto the ranch and walked into the house, she'd felt the strongest connection to it. She just hoped the adventure she was now having would prove worth it in the end.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"He's not going to be happy." Nick stared at Natasha as stood a few feet from the study where his brother spent the majority of his time. "Not after the way I was acting." He then confessed what he'd wanted to do after she'd fallen asleep and just who put the blanket on her. "I don't know that he'll believe that you came into the Billiard room. If anything, he'll figure I went upstairs after you." All right, so the fact was if he'd realized she'd come down from the upstairs he would have confronted her first. Though, that was beside the point.

Natasha, who had decided that stories she'd heard should have given Nick more credit than they did, didn't want to be the cause of Nick getting into trouble. "So," Natasha smiled as looked from Nick to the study door to Nick, "what would you do if I said I was just going to go in there without you?" She wasn't perturbed at seeing both surprise and anger appear in Nick's eyes. However, before he could answer, she was doing just that.

Jarrod, who was sitting behind his desk, jerked backwards as the door opened and Natasha entered with Nick bellowing at her as she did so. The fact that she could see him passed by Jarrod simply because Natasha did not act as if she could see him; no, she simply walked across the room and starting running her fingers across the books on the bookshelf. He might have said something only, just as he stood up, Nick's body caught up with his voice.

"She wasn't suppose to…" Nick started his sentence only to have Jarrod hold up his hand.

"She's in here now. Calm yourself and we can get those answers you were so eager to get last night." Jarrod said, only to feel his eyes opened as wide as possible and his jaw fall to the floor as Natasha pulled a book off the shelf, turned around and looked right at him.

"I already gave your brother answers to any questions he asked me; I just figured you might have more." Natasha dropped down into a chair that sat near the bookshelf and sat the book she'd taken off the shelf onto her lap. "And before you say anything," Natasha said as Jarrod began shooting a glare at his brother, "Nick didn't start it. I did." She went onto to explain she had entered the Billiard room first.

Like Nick, Jarrod was in shock that she could see them without them making the first move. No one had ever been able to do that. Sense them yes, but never actually see them. And, like Nick, he knew of no one who could get past a locked door without a key or some kind of tool. He then, basically, repeated Nick's questions and received the same answers.

"Look," Natasha said as she flipped through the book on her lap, "I don't know what your story really is and all that. Nor am I," she said as she looked at both brothers who looked like they were going to tell her it was none of her business and just to leave, "pushing you to tell me right now. However," she stressed the word 'however', "I am not leaving the ranch either." As she stood up, she also held the book slightly forward, "Though, with your permission I'd like to take the book out on the verandah and read. It looks like the storm is over, and there's nothing like reading a good book while smelling the air after rain has fallen."

Jarrod and Nick looked at each other. The looks they exchanged told each brother that they didn't know what to think of this very outspoken and, apparently, very stubborn woman. "There's something about her, Jarrod." Nick's eyes sent the silent message to his brother.

Jarrod would have argued with that message, only his brother was right. There _was_ something different about this visitor of theirs. For the first time since he'd passed away Jarrod gave in and nodded slightly at his brother, though he said nothing.

"Fine, we won't bother you." Nick turned his attention to Natasha, "but you'd better not try and do anything to our home."

Natasha, who had no need to ask why he would say such a thing, smiled and headed for the door. "Whatever mess I make while I'm here, I'll clean up and, don't worry; I'm not inviting anyone else. Why would I? They already think I'm up in the night as it is." The moment she was out of the room and the door was closed Jarrod and Nick moved effortlessly through the house and back to the Billiard room, making sure that the young woman had done just as she said she would. Sure enough, the French doors were open, and Natasha was pulling a chair out onto the Verandah.

"You know sooner or later she's going to ask more questions." Jarrod spoke quietly, not wanting their guest to over hear him.

_"….made me curious as a cat," _Natasha's words came back to Nick, and he couldn't help but smile a little. "Most likely," he answered as he kept an eye on the woman he was now studying closer. The fact that the sun's bright yellow rays were lighting her head, making her hair sparkle didn't help keep his mind on the matter on hand.

"She's out of reach for both of us," Jarrod rolled his eyes as he slapped his brother's upper left arm, but not so hard as to really hurt him. "Now, what are we going to do when she starts asking more questions?" The fact that anyone would start asking questions about a past he wished he could change bothered the oldest Barkley greatly.

"How should I know?" Nick answered rather bluntly as he found himself rather annoyed at his brother. "I haven't exactly thought about that one."

Jarrod, who found himself feeling more than uncomfortable, excused himself and headed for the door. Nick didn't bother asking his brother where he was going. There was no need to. Any time Jarrod was upset he only went three places; the study, his room or the *****thorn tree that Eugene had planted just days before that fateful night. This being the case, Nick simply kept an eye on their visitor; he wasn't taking any chances. He was going to make sure she didn't have a hidden agenda.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

As Natasha lifted the lengthy of the wood that was supposed to be the top railing of the corral fence, she was sure the sun had just gotten out of bed determined to see if it could stop her from the work she'd taken upon herself. If she was going to stay on the ranch, and in the house, for any length of time, Natasha was determined to make sure she left it better than she'd found it. She wasn't surprised when Nick Barkley made his presence known the moment she picked up the hammer she'd found in the barn and began working on the fence, nor was she surprised to feel, and hear, more than irritation coming from him.

"What are you up to? Trying to fix the place up to try and sell it, or what?" The scowl that was on his face grew larger as he shot out the questions.

"I'm not into real estate." Natasha continued hammering away. "Still, the fence needs fixing, and I need to keep busy. Never been any good at sitting idle, it drives Amelia crazy."

A puzzled look replaced the scowl. "Amelia?" Nick asked, looking around.

"My sister and she's not here; thinks I've lost my mind coming to a place that's supposed to be haunted." Natasha answered as she finished securing the top railing in place.

A part of Nick admired Natasha's bluntness and her apparent honesty, the other part remained suspicions. "What exactly did you come for? How long are you going to stay?"

"I told you, I got curious." Natasha squatted down and began working on the bottom rail of the fence. She hid a grin as Nick squatted down in front of her, on the other side of the fence. She could tell the famous rancher was not pleased with that answer; she could also see he knew it was the only answer he was going to get.

"So, how long are you thinkin' on staying?" Nick repeated in a tone that would have demanded an answer in a timely fashion from anyone. Only problem was…Natasha wasn't just anyone.

"You got anymore nails hidin' around this place?" Natasha asked as she stood up, stepped back and looked at her work. She was pleased to see the boards she'd put up were level.

"I asked you a question!" Nick snapped as he too stepped away from the fence. "I expect an answer!"

Natasha shrugged her shoulders as she leaned against the part of the fence she'd just fixed. "You do have yourself a mighty short temper, don't you?" She then started overlooking the scenery that wrapped itself around the house and the out buildings of the impressive ranch. "All the stories I have ever heard don't do the scenery justice. It's gorgeous out here."

Nick didn't know if to agree with her or to yell at her. He was accustomed to either getting his answers or hitting the other party; only he couldn't hit her. "Look," he softened his tone, hoping to get her to give him a straight answer. "My brother and me, we'd appreciate knowing just how long you plan on spendin' here. I mean, you said you're not here to sell the house or anything, yet you act as if you're moving in." Nick made sure he emphasized the last few words, as he did not want her to do that.

Natasha turned around and, leaning back against the fence, rested her upper arms on the top of the fence while her arms hung down. "What happened here?" Her own voice took on a tone of someone who was sincerely in search of answers to he own questions. "What happened that caused two brothers to hang around a house that hasn't been lived in for at least thirty years and to chase off anyone who comes near the place?"

Nick, unprepared to hear a sincere desire to know the truth in her voice and to see it in her eyes, hesitated as his brother's words came back to him. Of course she was asking questions. Hadn't she admitted to being curious? "It was a long time ago." Nick answered with a tired resignation in his voice as he sat down on a nearby crate; actually, he was simply hovering over it. "I don't know why you should care."

"I love history, anyone's history." Natasha as she sat on the ground in front of Nick, not even attempting to hide the earnest desire that she had to hear him tell her what had happened. "And, you can think what you want only," she said as turned up the palms of her hands up, "I want to help if I can." Once again, she kept Eugene and Heath's requests to herself, feeling strongly that it was not the time to disclose that bit of information.

Nick let out a chuckle that had both amusement and resignation in it. "I don't know of anything you can do only," he turned his eyes upward, gazing for a moment on Jarrod's window. Finally he turned his attention back to Natasha. "You get Jarrod to talk to you about at least the first part of the story, and I'll tell you the rest." He stood back up and waited for Natasha to do the same.

"Why not tell me the whole story yourself?" Natasha asked as she brushed the dirt that had gotten on her while she was sitting on the ground.

Nick shook his head. "No. I've told stories where I have second hand knowledge before. And, in spite of what some people think, I'm fine with it in some situations. However," He sighed and shook his head once more, "Not this time. Jarrod was there and, this time, that does make a difference. Get him to talk," Nick started to fade from Natasha's view, "and, if he stops in the middle like I think he will, I will finish it. After all, once the cattle drive I was on was over and I was home, I was there for the last half of it." He then completely disappeared, going who knows where.

Natasha looked up at the window Nick had been looking at. While he had not said it was Jarrod's bedroom, she knew, somehow; it belonged to the oldest Barkley. "Well," she looked around speaking to no one in particular, "Here goes nothing." With those words, Natasha headed for the side door, praying for a way to get the man called Jarrod Barkley to talk.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

While Natasha had intended to go up to Jarrod's bedroom, she found herself standing in the study instead. She didn't know why, jus that it's the room she needed to be in if she wanted to get Jarrod to talk to her. She couldn't help but wonder if he was just a bit protective of his bedroom. Oh well, it wasn't something she cared to find out at the moment.

"Jarrod Barkley!" Natasha called out, not daring to address him by his first name before he'd given her permission to do so. She might have been worried about Nick appearing only he had, just before she'd entered the house, reappeared and told her to call him Nick and then disappeared again. It had bought a smile to her lips, since she assumed that meant he was accepting the fact that she was at least staying around long enough to get more questions answered.

"Jarrod Barkley!" she called out again. When no one answered, Natasha headed for the bookshelf hoping to find a journal or something that might at least hold some of the answers. Maybe she'd even have better luck getting Jarrod Barkley to open up whenever he decided to appear again. After all, she had no intention of chasing a spirit all over the house trying to catch him. She lifted her finger and starting running it across the books that set nicely in a row on the bottom shelf, and then the middle shelf. However, when it came to the top shelf, Natasha had to pull a chair over and stand on it in order to reach it. She was more than thrilled when her finger traced four books that looked alike; each one had the word _JOURNAL _in bright gold letters on the edge of them. She had no sooner pulled the first one off the shelf and opened it than Jarrod appeared in the chair behind his desk, looking rather displeased.

"What?" Natasha looked at him with a look of disbelief. "You didn't answer when I called out your name. I figured I'd get a book to read."

She wasn't surprised when Jarrod leaned forward, clasped his hands together and asked in a reprimanding tone, "If it's just reading material you're looking for, why not take one off a shelf you can reach?"

Natasha rolled her eyes and answered as she jumped off the chair she was using. "I never said I was looking for every day reading did I?" She had to fight to keep her laughter buried as Jarrod glared at her.

"Those journals are private!" He spoke in a low, but strong voice; one that would make most people sit up and pay attention.

However, if Jarrod thought he was going to intimidate or scare Natasha, he found out differently when she planted her feet and threw her answer to his statement back at him as she pulled the chair she'd been standing on over to his desk. "They are only private while the person writing them is alive. Once they are gone other people have a strange habit of doing something called reading them! And, as I said, YOU didn't answer my call!" She sat down in the chair while keeping the journal on her lap. "So, if you don't want people reading them, you should have hidden them a lot better."

In spite of himself, Jarrod leaned back and did something he hadn't done in years; he allowed himself to chuckle. "You do have spunk; I'll give that to you." He then grew somber as looked at the book in her hands. After a few minutes, he let out a sigh and asked, "What do you want to know?"

Natasha, who had been sitting rather rigidly, relaxed and repeated the questions she'd asked Nick. "I asked him what happened; he said to talk to you."

Jarrod leaned back in the chair and shook his head slightly. His brother had been trying to get him to talk about 'the whole story' for years. Now, Nick had turned their uninvited guest onto him. Jarrod found it rather irritating, though there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. "There is nothing to talk about." He stated flatly, "My baby brother died far too young, and it's my entire fault."

Natasha didn't buy that for a moment. "What happened?" She repeated the question. "Or," she said as she glanced down at the book in her hands. For as strong as Jarrod's reaction to her having the book had been, Natasha just knew the answers to her questions were in it. "Do I need to read the books?" She wasn't surprised when Jarrod stood up and demanded she hand the book over.

Holding onto the book tighter, she shook her head. "You either tell me the story, or I read it. Which is it?"

Jarrod did his best not to curse as he moved around the desk. He meant to get the journal only to find Natasha was a lot faster and nimble that he'd hoped she was. Before he knew it, she was on the other side of the desk. "Like I said, you talk or I read. Which is it?"

Jarrod held out his hand and said, "All right! I'll tell you the story after you give me the book."

Again, he was amazed when Natasha picked up on his wording and smiled as she said, "Right after I give you the book or days, weeks or even months after?"

It had been so long since Jarrod had met anyone with as much spunk and bluntness as Natasha had. He wasn't sure what to think. Finally he threw his hands up in the air and caved in. "All right! All right! Put the journal back where you got it, and I'll tell you the story. However," He said as he nodded towards the study door, "Do you mind if we do it out in the garden? It doesn't look like much right now only, thanks to my great-great nephews and nieces who live on the connecting ranch, it's not totally dead either."

"You promise?" Natasha eyed Jarrod for any signs he was going to change his mind.

"You have my word." Jarrod held out his hand. "I'll tell you as much of the story as I'm capable of telling. Now, hand me the book." The look in his eyes told her he was as serious as he could get.

Now it was Natasha who was chuckling. "You have a deal." She smiled, gave the book back. Once Jarrod had returned the book to its rightful place, the two of them headed for the garden outside.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Natasha sat on one end of the bench that sat in the garden, looking around while Jarrod 'sat' on the other. He was right; she could see where the garden needed some work only there was still life in it. With the Willow trees she'd seen out front, and the ones she'd seen near the side of the house, she had expected to see Willow trees in the garden. She was surprised instead to see a** ***thorn tree right smack in the middle of the garden. She then looked at Jarrod, who sat with his hand clasped and his head bowed slightly. She might have thought he was praying only his eyes were wide open. Natasha might have asked about the tree, as it looked so out of place, only she feared he might take it as a way to change the subject. After sitting a solid twenty minutes in silence, she'd had enough and pressed Jarrod to talk. "Well?"

Jarrod let out a long drawn out sigh, lifted her head and shocked her by mentioning the tree and what it doing in the garden very first thing. "Gene planted it there. Told him it belonged elsewhere, but he only chuckled sadly and said it belonged here more than I realized." He turned his head and looked at Natasha, the overwhelming sadness and regret in his eyes almost knocked her off the bench. However, she said nothing as he continued.

"What do you know about my family and me?" Jarrod threw her a curve ball when he asked the question.

After recovering from her surprise, Natasha shrugged her shoulders and answered, "Anything that's been written; your names, your professions, whether or not you were married, and such things. When it comes to you yourself, the books have you married to a woman by the name of Beth only you found yourself a widower just a week later. There's also a serious relationship to one Linda Adams that was supposed to have ended when she chose another."

Jarrod stood up and walked towards the thorn tree, stopping a few feet from it; Natasha stood up and followed. "There wasn't another serious relationship mentioned in any of those books you read?" Jarrod asked after a few moments.

Natasha, who was startled to hear his implication, thought hard only to shake her head. "No, the only other woman ever mentioned was one who was supposed to have caused a lot of grief for your family. No one ever called her by name, or said exactly what she did. Actually, there's a few 'holes' as it were in all of the stories. That is, it seems like bits and parts are missing."

Jarrod again shook his head. "Mother said that, for my sake, she was going to make sure 'that woman's' name wasn't ever recorded in our history. I guess she succeeded." He paused and then continued. "Sometimes people who have had, and lost, a love so great it would make one envious want another one like it so badly that they allow themselves to be blinded. Sometimes things work out anyway; however," he tilted his head upwards and looked at the thorn tree, "most of the time they get only heartache and regret. In Eugene's journal, one I read after he was killed, compared the situation, and its results, as one living in a whirlwind in a thorn tree. He said it was because one can't think straight when in a whirlwind and the damage is just as painful as thorns."

Natasha could see that Jarrod was fighting to keep back tears and felt her heart go out to him. A part of her told herself to back out of asking him to tell her the story only she couldn't. She was just far too curious as to what had taken place and, like she'd told Nick, she wanted to do something, anything to help. This being the case, Natasha simply waited for Jarrod to continue speaking.

"Her name was Esmeralda or Emmy for short." Jarrod kept his eyes on the thorn tree as he began to speak, wondering if he could really tell the whole story to a complete stranger, when he couldn't even get through it when his own brother tried to get him to talk about it.

**75 Years Earlier…**

Jarrod hurried down the streets of Stockton clutching the handle of his umbrella tightly in his hands. The rain storm which had hit that morning was still hanging around. He passed one building after another as he was running late getting to his office as it was. If only he hadn't stopped in at the gentleman's club and let himself get distracted the night before, he would be on schedule right now. With his mind on getting to his office, Jarrod didn't see her until it was too late.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Jarrod said as he lurched forward and grabbed the young brown haired beauty he'd just bumped into, preventing her from falling to the wet ground below. "I should have been watching where I was going."

"No problem," the stranger smiled, her eyes sparkling at him.

Jarrod felt his heart jump ever so slightly. It seemed like forever since he'd met someone whose smile reached out and grabbed him. Then again, in the five years since Beth had been killed, he only allowed one other woman near him…and she'd chosen another. "Name's Jarrod Thomas Barkley, attorney at law." He smiled back. "May I inquire as to just what your name is?"

"Esmeralda Mitchell, you can call me Emma." She answered as she looked toward one of the nearby buildings; a new clothing store. "I need to get to work. My great uncle will not like it if I'm late. Maybe we'll see each other later."

Work… late… Jarrod snapped out of the fog he seemed to have entered. "I'm sure we will. Have a good day." He answered and then watched the young woman cross the street and disappear into the store. He lingered for a moment and headed for his office once more, determined to call on Miss Mitchell once his day's work was done.

*****According to my research, California does have trees that fall in the thorn tree category.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Esmeralda Mitchell was a woman of great outward beauty. Her dark brown hair, with a tint of blonde, worn up in a bun that sat on top of her head, while her clothes matched both her hair and her hazel colored eyes. When she lived in Boston, many upper class men had fallen for her beauty, and for her softly spoken words. In fact, when one or two had learned of her plans to move out west, they had tried to get her to accept their proposals and to settle down. Of course, the moment she'd boarded the train those men knew they had failed in their attempts to woo her. How were they know she was fleeing with the profits of yet another scheme?

As Esmeralda sat on a chair near the window of her great uncle's store, her mind went to the fine looking gentleman who had bumped into her. He'd said his last name was Barkley, and that he was an attorney. She'd heard of the Barkleys when she'd visited Stockton two years ago, in 1873. Unfortunately, her business had been urgent and she hadn't had the time to meet them before she left. If Jarrod Barkley was a member of the family she'd heard about, and if he was an attorney like he said, that meant he was a man of means. Her thoughts on that matter might have continued, only her great uncle appeared.

"Esmeralda! It's so good to see you, though I will say I was surprised when a fine lady such as yourself agreed to come to Stockton to help me!" Samuel Henderson said as he stepped out from the back room.

Esmeralda put on a smile and gave her uncle a hug. _"If the fool thinks I came to just help him, he's crazy,"_She thought seconds before she said, "I needed change of scenery anyway. Now, what do you need me to do?" Naturally, the question only led to finding herself working with her uncle the rest of the day. By the time she stepped out of the clothing shop, Esmeralda was more than ready to get away from such demeaning work. Just as she closed the door, she saw Jarrod Barkley walking towards her. Once again, she put on her famous smile and acted the part of a true lady.

** 1950…**

Jarrod paused as he remembered that first meeting. If only had been able to see past that smile and her beauty, seen her for what she really was, things might have been different. As if she could read his mind, Natasha spoke up. "There are many people who wear masks others don't see past, you're not the first and," she sighed, "you haven't been the last." She was speaking from experience only, unless Jarrod Barkley asked her about it, Natasha wasn't going to give any further details. Why should she? She had honestly let it go and put it behind her, even if her ex boyfriend had tried, and failed, to make it a part of her present.

Jarrod shook his head and turned his head just enough to look at her. After a moment, he sighed and said, "It was a mask she was an expert at wearing." He turned back to the thorn tree and began talking once more.

** 75 years before…**

"May I get you a table?" offered Matthew Lynn, the head waiter who worked at one of the fancier restaurants in town. He had hurried over to Jarrod, who had stopped and talked to Esmeralda once more before inviting her to dine with him.

Jarrod smiled, as the waiter eyed the brown haired beauty. "Yes, you could, preferably one off to the side," answered Jarrod. He would have asked for a corner table only Miss Mitchell might question his intentions and to ask for one in the middle; well, he didn't want Miss Mitchell to feel like he was trying to put her on display.

"Yes, Mr. Barkley." Matthew turned and led Jarrod and Esmeralda to their table and then handed them the menus. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He smiled and then walked away.

"I appreciate the dinner, Mr. Barkley. I wasn't looking forward to going home and helping Gracie cook." In her eyes, the fact that her uncle had a cook was his one redeeming quality; he had a cook who was used to having the kitchen to herself.

"It's no problem, and the name is Jarrod. Now," he said as he smiled, mesmerized by the woman he'd just met, "you promised to tell me all about you and exactly what brought you to Stockton."

Esmeralda shrugged her shoulders slightly, remembering how she'd 'let it slip' that she had let her great uncle think she'd simply come to California in order to help him. "It's not all that complicated. I simply got tired of the east and wanted to explore new places. My aunts, uncles and cousins didn't argue with me since I was 'coming straight to Stockton'. Is it my fault," she chuckled as a sheepish grin appeared on her face, "they didn't take time to check the route, and its stops, out before I got on the train? Actually, I'll be surprised if they even checked it afterwards."

Jarrod laughed at the thought that Miss Mitchell had seen far more of the country than the relatives who she made sound quite snobbish knew. The fact that she knew how to use her mind impressed him greatly, and his interest in her grew. "What about your parents, your siblings, didn't they warn you about coming 'all the way out here' by yourself?"

Esmeralda took a hold of her wine glass and turned it as she made it look as if sorrow had entered her eyes. "I lost my father and older brother in the war; my mother wasn't in good health when she received the news and passed away shortly afterwards. My other two brothers have families of their own to worry about, and I have no sisters. And, before you ask, my brothers don't know what to think about me and the life I choose to live. Now," she said as she took a sip of her drink, not about to tell him her brothers had practically disowned her due to her extreme greed and underhanded deals, "tell me about your family."

Jarrod was more than happy to oblige her and began telling her about each and every one of his family members, never noticing the look of one thinking on other matters as she listened just enough to keep from making a fool of herself.. If he had, he would have stopped talking and inquired further. As it was, the two chatted until eight o'clock and then he escorted her back to her home, before he headed back to the ranch.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

**1950**

Natasha wasn't surprised when Jarrod fell silent again. While a portion of her wanted to push him to continue, she knew it wouldn't do any good. From what she felt around the home, the Barkley stubbornness was still very much intact. Jarrod stood up and walked over to the thorn tree. A faraway look appeared in his eyes and he let out a long drawn out sigh. "I was forever warning Nick not to jump into a relationship before he'd taken time to get to know the woman behind the looks, and" Jarrod said as he shook his head, "I failed to do it myself. Funny, how things that can look so beautiful, can turn out to be so deadly." When he said nothing else, Natasha stood up and made her way to his side; she hoped the simple action would get him to talking once again. Her patience was rewarded when Jarrod eventually turned, looked at her and continued talking.

** 75 years ago…**

Victoria walked into the Billiard room to see Jarrod working behind the desk they kept in the room. That in itself was not anything to raise an eyebrow over. However, he was whistling and a grin covered his entire face. The way he had gone on and on at the breakfast table when it came to the newest Stockton resident, Victoria was sure, one Esmeralda Mitchell was the reason for the change in her oldest son. Naturally, not ever having met the woman, Victoria was hoping only the best for her son.

"So, when do we meet this woman who has put such a smile upon your face?" She asked as she sat down across from the table and sat her handbag upon his desk. If the stranger made Jarrod act this way, Victoria was going to make sure the two of them met…and met soon.

"This woman has a name." Jarrod corrected her as he laid the papers he'd been working on down and gave her a rather amused smile as he spoke. "Esmeralda, or Emmy; I appreciate it if you'd use it. "

"Don't worry about that." His smother smiled. "I will. Though, I am concerned. You've only met her twice and really only talked once."

Knowing his mother was thinking about the past and his quick marriage and the way he'd been after Beth had been unexpectedly been killed by a bullet meant for him, Jarrod stood up and walked around the front of the desk. He sat down on top of the furniture and smiled at his mother. "I appreciate your concern, mother. However, I think you're worrying for nothing. I mean, it's not like I'm not planning on asking her to marry me. All I ever said was I was looking forward to getting to know her better." He put his hands on the end of the desk and then asked, "What about I invite her over for dinner sometime this week?"

Victoria liked that idea. It would definitely help her get to know the woman who had caught Jarrod's eye, and she said as much. "Just give Silas and me a solid twenty-four hour notice." She said standing up. "Now, I need to run. Audra and I are going to the orphanage. Take care of yourself."

"Don't I always?" Jarrod chuckled as he walked over to the study door and opened it for his mother. He then let the room himself, figuring he might as well go see Miss Mitchell right then. It's not like any of the paper work he'd been doing couldn't wait.

** ~oOo~**

Esmeralda whistled a lively tune as she buttoned up her blouse. Jarrod Barkley had stopped by the store to deliver the invitation to dine with him and some of his family at their home. "_But," he said quickly as he saw a worried look came upon Esmeralda's face, "My mother and sister will be there as will my youngest brother, Eugene. We just want to get to know you better."_

Esmeralda grinned, as she thought on the baritone lawyer and family. Truth was, the concerned look that had come upon her face when he'd invited her to dine with him at his home was merely for show. She'd only put 'that look' up on her face so as to convince him she had the high standards that were expected of a lady. However, bottom line was all she could think of was if she was succeeding in her plans or not. If she played her cards right, she wouldn't have to help her great uncle in the cloth shop. No, if things went according to her plans…plans that meant swindling some of the businessmen in Stockton, she'd have plenty of money to hop a ship to go to Australia…and a scapegoat to take the fall. Just as she finished getting ready, a knock came at the door. She heard her uncle's voice as she opened her bedroom door just enough to take a peek.

"Welcome, Jarrod," Samuel Henderson's face was beaming with genuine delight. He had become fast friends with the Barkleys since opening his store in Stockton. Had he known of his great-niece's plan to use Jarrod for her own personal gain the man would have been horrified. As it was, he sincerely thought there was a chance for happiness for "the two youngin's" as he insisted on calling anyone more than ten years younger than him. "I'll go see what's keeping Esmeralda."

While Jarrod waited, he looked around the Henderson living room. The furnishings were not overly expensive; still, they were of fine quality and well taken care of. The pictures, some religious and some not, all fell into the same category. "Aunt Lilly always insisted that everything look nice." Esmeralda brought Jarrod out of his thoughts as she entered the room and spoke.

"She did at that." Jarrod said. Then, after spending a few minutes talking to Samuel and assuring the man his great-niece would be home before dark, led Esmeralda out the door and to the buggy that was waiting for them outside the house.

** 1950**

When Jarrod fell silent, Natasha took a chance and spoke. "Doesn't sound like she gave you any reason to be suspicious of her."

"She didn't. I saw her on and off for two weeks, the whole time Nick and Heath were on the cattle drive. Never once was there anything to say she wasn't the kind of person she was portraying herself to be." Jarrod answered, a bitter tone could be heard in his voice he walked back to the bench and sat down. "The day before they came home from the drive, she and I went on another picnic near the pond. I had told my mother, I wasn't going to jump into another marriage, and I wasn't. Still, I had never said anything about asking Esmeralda if I could seriously court her either."

Jarrod again fell silent. A portion of him wanted to back out of telling their visitor anything else, but he'd already told her he'd tell her the story. However, before he could start again, a boy's scream had Natasha jumping up and running around the side of the house. The sight that met her eyes had her stopping dead in her tracks and laughing.

"Who is that?" Jarrod, unseen by the young red headed boy who had his arms and legs wrapped around a branch of the tree that stood ten feet from the side of the house; the branch was at least six feet up in the air.

"I have no idea." Natasha said under her breath then, when she wasn't laughing, asked just as quietly, "Why don't ask him?"

Or course, Jarrod did no such thing as the young man screamed at Natasha to help him. "How did you get up there in the first place?" Natasha asked as she walked towards the tree.

"A… a…. something put me up here!" The young man wailed as Nick appeared at the side of the house with a grin as wide as California on his face. That only served to earn him glares from both Natasha and Jarrod.

"Hold on," Natasha said as she made it look as if she was looking around, even if she looked at Jarrod and Nick; especially Nick, as if to say 'there better be a ladder around here'. Within seconds Nick had disappeared and, seconds later, appeared with a ladder, though he made sure it was on its side and the majority of it hidden by bushes. Seconds later, the young man was scrambling down the ladder and running towards the gate.

"Thanks miss, but I'd get away from this place if I were you! It's haunted!" The lad yelled as he ran through the gate, grabbed his bicycle and rode away.

The moment the lad was gone, Natasha turned to look at Jarrod only now he was gone. She then looked at Nick. A part of her was annoyed, but the other half realized that if the hot tempered rancher hadn't stepped in the boy might have made his way to the garden and interrupted things anyway; maybe, even caught her 'talking to herself'. "Guess I should thank you," she said and then looked around, "Where did he go?" she asked referring to Jarrod.

"Probably up to his room," Nick answered and then took a step towards her. "Did he talk to you about…what happened?"

"Some," Natasha answered and then told Nick how far into the story Jarrod had gotten. "Tell me the rest?" She asked as she too stepped towards Nick.

"No, he needs to tell it worse than I do. Besides, he gets farther than that with me. Go find him again. I'll be around." Nick started chuckling as he looked towards the gate. "Got to keep my eyes open,"

Natasha didn't know about that, but she did know she had to find Jarrod. That being the case, she excused herself and went to look for the blue eyes, baritone lawyer.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

**1950**

Natasha walked up the stairs and down the hallway to the room she'd felt such loss and misplaced guilt. That feeling was once again present only ten times worse. Jarrod was inside; she just knew it. She slowly lifted her hand and knocked. Okay, it felt sort of strange knocking on a door that didn't have any person living on the top side of the grass; still, she did it. If nothing else, it might show the oldest Barkley she knew how to show respect to another person.

After what seemed an eternity, she heard Jarrod call out. "If you can come into this house through a locked door, what's stopping you from coming in here?"

"Manners," She smiled and answered as she opened the door. Jarrod was standing by his bedroom window with his face forward. "May we continue our talk?"

Jarrod sighed, as he put his hands upon the window seal. "Pull up a chair. If we stay up here, then at least that way Nick can have his fun with any trespassers without us being interrupted."

Natasha would have asked to go to the study or the living room, only problem was any trespassers would be able to look in through the windows. If they did that, and she happened to be the one talking, she'd have to deal with the fall out that came from it. She didn't really feel like that. Looking around, she quickly spied a chair not that far from the door. Moving to the chair she sat down and waited.

"Like I said before," Jarrod took a deep breath and started the story once more. "Esmeralda presented herself as one very educated, hard working and very honest woman. The day before my brothers came home, I took her on a ride and we wound up at one of the ponds that existed on our land at the time."

** 75 years ago…**

Esmeralda gazed upon the scenery that surrounded the pond that she and Jarrod Barkley had just driven up to. The tall, majestic trees, occasional jackrabbit and tall green grass were all so breathtaking. The singing of the birds in the trees helped make for quite an inviting environment.

"It's gorgeous out here." She said as Jarrod helped her down from the buggy they were using for the day after dropping Audra off at her friend's home. "Come here often?"

"Not as much as I used to," Jarrod answered as he retrieved the picnic basket Silas had prepared for the picnic. "Only I come when I can." He then started laying out the blanket they'd brought along to sit on while they ate. Once they were seated, he asked her to tell her more about herself.

"You said you were born in New York, but where were you raised? I mean, your accent doesn't come from New York, sounds more like Boston." Jarrod asked as he began eating some chicken.

"No, it doesn't." Esmeralda said as her attention went from the scenery around her to Jarrod. "And you're right; it is a Boston accent I speak with." She stood up and walked over to a tree and leaned against it. "As you have probably heard, Uncle Samuel lived in Massachusetts for years. When I was two, he wrote my father and asked him if he'd leave New York and become a partner with him in his business. Father said yes, said he's always wanted to see Boston. It didn't last though." She chuckled and shook her head, "If you ask Uncle Samuel, it was my father's fault, accused him of stealing a lot of money from him. If you could talk to my late father, he'd have denied that. He'd tell you it was Uncle Samuel's own doing, and that my uncle made some bad decisions, lost the money and was simply blaming him." She shrugged her shoulders, "My father didn't steal any money. He was a good man. What it boils down to is this… they get along great as relatives, but lousy when it comes to business partners because they were always blaming each other when things went wrong. Father found other work though, and we stayed in Boston. Though, later, he talked about New York again only to have the war break out." She wasn't about to admit it was she who had, at an early age, learned how to get the money she wanted and stolen it from her uncle.

Jarrod, who had finished eating, stood up and joined her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he did so. It was an act that Esmeralda more than encouraged when she leaned backwards and rested the back of her head against his shoulder. The rest of their time was spent with Esmeralda in his arms while they exchanged stories about each other and their lives, though Jarrod had no way of knowing Esmeralda was playing with facts in some of the stories.

** 1950…**

"Nine truths to one lie," Jarrod turned his head and looked at Natasha. The hurt, the betrayal he still felt could be seen in his eyes and heard in his voice as he spoke. "That's what she fed me time and time again. Gave me enough truth to get me to believe the one lie she'd tell me," Jarrod stepped away from the window and began pacing the room.

It got on Natasha's nerves just a little, only she wasn't about to tell him to stop. If the pacing kept him talking, she could endure a bit of annoyance.

"We spent the most of the day by the pond and then came back here. She and mother spent the late afternoon and early evening visiting. Miss Mitchell was the perfect guest and, by the time I drove her home, mother was convinced that I had found the perfect match for me. Of course," Jarrod smiled just a little, "she cautioned I take it slow. She wanted me to be sure. After all, I hadn't known Miss Mitchell very long. I agreed and then went to bed excited for my brothers to meet her. After all, if things worked out for us, she would be their sister in law." By the time Jarrod was finished talking, he was standing back by the window with his hands behind his back, twiddling his thumbs.

When he didn't continue, Natasha spoke up and asked, "They all liked her at first?"

Jarrod shook his head. "Heath and Nick thought she was beautiful and nice enough, and teased me, but cautioned me to take it easy. They feared a repeat of what happened when I fell in love with Beth. At first they told each other that the feelings of apprehension they got when meeting her was exactly that… the fear of repeated history…which made them wary of her. Needless to say, because of it they said nothing at first. However, Eugene was another story. He wasn't rude to her or mean. He was just," Jarrod shrugged his shoulders and said, "a bit more distant than I expected."

** 75 years ago…**

Eugene stood near the fireplace as his oldest brother introduced Esmeralda to Heath, Nick and himself while Victoria and Audra sat on the sofa. Eugene wanted to be happy that Jarrod had met what appeared to be a perfect match. Only problem was he got an uncomfortable feeling every time he looked at her. It would have had him thinking he and the woman had actually met only, the moment he thought about that option he had the strongest impression that wasn't the case. It was that, not knowing exactly why he would be suspicious of her, which made Eugene keep his mouth shut for the moment. After all, if he was to say anything at all, Eugene knew he better have some solid facts to present Jarrod. If he didn't, the man would never listen.

"Where are you going, son?" Victoria asked her youngest as he asked to be excused.

"I'm sorry," Eugene gave his mother, siblings and their guest, a sincere apology, "but I have some studying to do. I know," he said as he looked at his mother when she began to object, "I should have had it done before now. Only, I didn't." With that said and done, Eugene left the room.

"You spend too much time on your books." Audra told him as he passed her. "You need to relax more." That only served to earn her a chuckle from her youngest brother.

Jarrod looked at his exiting brother only for a second. While he felt strongly there was something Eugene wasn't saying, he chalked it up to school and his trip home. With that line of thinking, Jarrod turned his attention back to his family and the lady on his arm.

** 1950…**

"Don't stop, please." Natasha begged when Jarrod fell silent. She feared if Jarrod stopped now, he would never continue and she didn't want that.

Jarrod smiled and pointed to the sun which was looking as if it starting to think about going to bed. "We spirits might not have to eat, but I suggest you take the time to do so. I don't think you've eaten all day, have you? Also, I dare say you need to sleep sometime. We can continue this talk in the morning."

Natasha blushed as her stomach growled not a split second after Jarrod made his observation, as if to tell him he was right. Naturally, Jarrod only laughed. "I hope you brought something with you?" He asked, knowing that there was no food in the house.

"Yes, but I left the items I brought with me in my saddle bags." Natasha answered as she exited the room. "I'll go get them and get my supper started." She'd have told him not to go anywhere, but figured that would be the stupidest statement she could make.

Once she was gone, Jarrod disappeared from his room and went to find Nick. He meant to give him a few choice words for putting the story telling burr underneath Natasha Ballard's saddle.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

**1950…**

Natasha had made her way to the bedroom Jarrod had assured her was meant for guests, but had found herself unable to sleep, so she made her way down to the living room. She now sat with her feet up on the sofa and wrapped up in a blanket…the same one Jarrod had put on her the night she arrived. Natasha's mind was on the story Jarrod had started to tell her; the story she didn't want to wait until morning to finish hearing. She would have knocked on the man's bedroom door, only she was sure he would not look upon a nightly visitor with any degree of pleasure, even if he was a ghost. She had tried the study, but he wasn't there. The only other place she could think of was the thorn tree and, for all her gifts and abilities, she didn't care to be walking around outside at night. All right, for everything she'd ever seen and done it shouldn't bother her; only, it did.

"That couch really isn't all that comfortable to sleep on. I'd have thought you'd already know that." Nick's voice behind her had Natasha jumping three feet in the air which, naturally, got Nick laughing, and it only got worse when she asked if he thought he could speak any louder…in a very sarcastic tone of voice.

"I thought you could tell when one, or both, of us were in the room…especially me. I mean, since coming here you've said more than once you can hear my spurs a mile away." He said after getting his laughter under control, walked around the sofa and faced Natasha, who was fighting to get her heart back into place.

"Normally, I can." She answered as she shook her head and chuckled at the dark haired rancher, "Guess I was too deep in thought to hear you." She went on to tell Nick how far Jarrod had gotten in the story when "crazy teenager" distracted them. "He said he'd tell me more in the morning only," she said as she leaned forward, "why can't you just tell me the story now?"

Nick sighed as he sat down in the chair near her. He thought on all the times he'd gotten Jarrod to sit down and talk about that period of time. Nick had, over time, figured out just what Jarrod needed only Nick had never been able to get Jarrod to do it. "No," Nick sighed, "I know what I said before, only my brother needs to talk about it; _all_ of it. It's the only way he'll ever face everything, and finally accept that he did _nothing_ wrong, then let it go." He sighed again, "If you fail to get him to talk about all of it, then I _will_ keep my word. I will tell you what he does not, but please," He said in an almost begging tone of voice, "do your best to get him to tell it himself."

Natasha thought about what Nick had said and had to admit there was truth in his words. After all, until she'd let go of a past she could not change her own life which had been rather miserable. "Okay, for both your sakes, I'll do that." She then yawned. "But I think I best admit that my mortal flesh still needs that sleep your brother mentioned." She wasn't surprised to see a smile appear on the dark haired rancher's face. She couldn't help but smile back. How could she not? That dimple of his was so blasted attractive, and there was just something about him that reached out and grabbed her! Of course, the minute she realized she might just be staring at him, she quickly turned her eyes away and excused herself. Why do otherwise? She was flesh and bones; he was a spirit. What good would it to do think about anything, but helping him and his brother?

For Nick's part he sighed again. He'd seen the look she'd given him and felt rather flattered. However, he didn't dwell on it. Why should he? It was like Jarrod said…she was out of their reach.

**~oOo~**

Morning found Natasha running into town long enough to buy some groceries, having to bite her tongue as she heard people talking about the fact that they'd heard someone was crazy enough to try and stay at the old Barkley place, and then hurrying back to the ranch. Once she had fixed something to eat, and then eaten it, Natasha went down the hallway and knocked on the study door only to receive no answer. After knocking again, with the same results, Natasha decided to try the bedroom…especially since she felt no spirit near the room. She then walked up the stairs and down the hallway. Knocking on the door and, after hearing Jarrod to tell her to come in, Natasha entered the room. Jarrod was standing in front of his window looking as if he was deep in thought.

"How are you today?" Natasha asked, even if it did sound like kind of foolish asking a spirit that question. Only thing was, she could feel the tension in the air and wanted to do anything she could to help relax the mood.

"If I said fine," Jarrod answered as he watched Natasha sit down in the chair next to his door, "would you believe me and leave the ranch?"

Natasha couldn't help but start laughing. Naturally, that reaction to his question only served to puzzled Jarrod and his eyebrows turned downward in confusion. "What's so funny?"

"Well, it's just…" Natasha did her best to answer him in spite of the fact she was still laughing, "it comes to my mind to ask which side of the bed you woke up on only," she said as she looked at Jarrod, "all I can think is the bottom side of the grave or the top side?"

"Ha ha," Jarrod shook his head, even if his eyes were, for the first time in ages, dancing in amusement themselves.

Natasha stopped laughing and wiped the tears from her eyes. She then grew serious. "So, let's start where we left off, okay?

That did it; the sparkle in his eyes left. For a moment Jarrod said nothing. Finally, he took a deep breath and continued.

**75 years ago…**

"Gene," Jarrod stood in his brother's doorway and watched as Eugene sat at the desk in his room reading one of his college books. "May I come in?"

Eugene turned his head and saw the look on his oldest brother's face. Inwardly he sighed. Jarrod wanted an explanation for his cold behavior towards Miss Mitchell, he just knew it. "Of course, what do you need?" He asked, hoping he was wrong. However, he wasn't to get that hope satisfied.

Jarrod, who had taken Esmeralda home from yet another supper held at the Barkley home and enjoyed the pleasure of kissing her goodnight once more, now stood in his brother's bedroom doing what he could to get some answers. "What's going on? You have barely been civil to Miss Mitchell since you met her and, once you leave the living room when she's here, you never appear again. No one in this family or in town treats her that way, why do you?"

Eugene wanted to scream for one simple fact; he didn't know what the problem was. All he knew was…he got an extremely bad feeling the moment he looked at the woman Jarrod had introduced to the family last month. He knew he'd never seen her before; still, the feeling… it just wasn't good. Only problem was, if he was to warn Jarrod away from 'that woman', he knew he'd have to have more than 'I have this bad feeling' about her to give his logically minded brother. "I told you." Eugene turned his attention back to the books in front of him, "I have lots of studying to do right now." _'And then, as soon as I'm through, I'm going into town and send a few telegrams off' _he added only to himself.

Jarrod thought about pushing his brother to talk only thing was he could see Eugene did have lots of work. So, after a few silent moments, Jarrod turned and left the room making mental notes of what he and Esmeralda would do the following day.

**~oOo~**

Eugene sat on the bench in the garden doing his best to relax…only he couldn't seem to do it. None of his telegrams had brought any definite results. Yes, one of his contacts had said that he thought he'd heard that she had been behind a fiasco back east that caused a rather wealthy man losing most of his money and having to fight to prove his innocence on some matter, but he couldn't give Eugene any details or proof to the rumors. No, all he could say for sure was that he too got an uncomfortable feeling, but nothing solid.

Only when he heard footsteps did he turn his head; he sighed. It was Jarrod and he looked rather serious. Eugene figured it was because he had actually cornered Jarrod a few days before, broke down and confessed his true feelings. He'd also 'had the nerve to ask Jarrod to take just one day and investigate Esmeralda'. Jarrod had given him a lecture, but Eugene had not changed his behavior towards Miss Mitchell. No, he had continued to be less than friendly around Esmeralda.

"We need to talk. I need to know once and for all why you are behaving this way towards the woman that might very well be your sister-in-law someday." Jarrod sat on the other side of the bench. He spoke with a no nonsense tone of voice. "She's a good woman, Gene. Everyone knows it."

Gene shook his head and stood up. "No, Jarrod. Something's not right." He took a few steps and then turned back to his brother. "It's like I told you when I asked you to take the time to investigate her…she's hiding something; I can feel it."

Jarrod might have at least listened to anything else Gene had to say only Nick and Heath had begun to say the same thing; though, they'd had no more proof than Gene had…and Jarrod was blaming his baby brother for that as well. With that being the case, his ears were closed up tight. "You 'feel' it? Why?" He spoke rather harshly, "She's done nothing to you, nothing to this family. In fact, she's spent countless hours helping mother and Audra at the orphanage, among others in town. There's no reason to have her investigated!"

"I know all she's done Jarrod, but I tell you…there is a reason to investigate her. She's hiding…" Eugene didn't get any further as Jarrod exploded the same way he had when Nick and Heath tried to talk to him.

"She's not like that! She wouldn't hide anything! Like I told Nick and Heath, you're wrong!" Jarrod turned and stormed out of the garden.

Eugene shook his head as he looked at a bare piece of ground in the garden. He couldn't understand why his brother didn't get the same gut feelings regarding this woman. The man was known for his instinctive nature. He could tell a lie at ten paces. Eugene sighed and shrugged, resigning to the fact that this was not a case of law, but a woman that had snuck into his brother's heart and obviously blinded him. Then again he could be wrong; it just didn't feel like Jarrod was feeling and seeing the things he should. Then, on impulse, Eugene headed into town. He had a tree to buy.

_**1950**_**…**

Natasha watched as she could see Jarrod becoming tenser. She wasn't surprised when he stopped talking and walked over to the window. However, when he had not begun speaking after five minutes had passed, she stood up and joined him. She felt her heart go out to him, as she saw intense pain and sorrow in his eyes which were staring at nothing in particular; it was coupled with guilt. Somehow, in that moment Natasha couldn't help but wonder if Jarrod had reached the point he always stopped at when he was talking with Nick; that is, when Nick was even able to get him to talk.

Natasha felt her heart go out to him as she saw him staring at nothing in particular. She took a deep breath knowing she had to get him to continue if she was to do as his brothers had asked. "Maybe we should go outside and walk around." She spoke cautiously and kept her eyes on Jarrod as she spoke. "It's rather a nice day, might make telling me the rest of the story easier."

"NO!" Jarrod, who was visibly shaken, shook his head and barked louder than Nick ever thought of doing. "There is nothing more to say!" He turned on her, his eyes brimming with tears. "My brother died because I couldn't see past the end of my nose!" Before Natasha could say another word Jarrod was gone.

"Well, guess the books were right about their stubbornness." Natasha hurried out of the room and down the hall. While she doubted Jarrod would go to the study, she decided to check there first. Poking her head in, she found she was right. Jarrod was nowhere in the room. Quickly she shut the door and headed down the hall; he had to be in the garden. Because she was in such a hurry, Natasha did not see Nick until she was almost on top of him.

"I'm sorry." She apologized as she stopped not a foot from him. "Jarrod and I were talking upstairs, but he became agitated and disappeared on me." She then went on to tell him where she'd checked and where she was heading.

Nick frowned. He'd just been out to the garden and Jarrod wasn't there. After a moment he said in an uncharacteristic quiet voice, "You've hit a nerve which means you're getting somewhere. Just how much has he told you?"

Natasha carefully recited the basics of what Jarrod had told her, knowing full well to repeat everything would take too long. She was surprised when Nick let out a low whistle and said, "He's never admitted to confronting Gene in his room or in the garden to me. In fact, up to now, I had no idea Gene wanted Jarrod to investigate the woman. I thought the two hadn't said much more than two words on the matter. However, Jarrod's not in the garden." He told her how he knew that and then said, "We've got to find him, get him to keep talking."

"Fine, I'll get my horse only let's still split up. I mean," she said as she chuckled and looked at Nick, "even with my horse, you'll travel a bit faster than I will."

Nick laughed and disappeared while Natasha ran into the barn and opened her horse's stall. "Well, Gail," she said as she threw on the saddle, did the cinch up and led the horse out of the barn, "It looks like we've got a game of hide and go seek to play." The horse neighed as Natasha quickly mounted and rode out of the yard, following the force that had begun pulling at her the moment she'd sat in the saddle, never once looking back.

However, if she had taken the time to look back, Natasha would have seen Gene and Heath appear next to the house. "She's getting through to him, Heath." Gene looked at Heath as Natasha disappeared from view. The excitement he felt could be heard in his voice. "He'll be back with us soon; I just know it. Mother, father and Audra will be so happy."

While Heath agreed with Gene, he still cautioned him to pull in the reins on his excitement. "Getting is the key word Gene, she's hasn't done it yet. Not a word to mother or Audra until she does. Now…" Heath started fading, "We need to leave. We have other work to keep us busy, remember?" He laughed as Gene gave him a playful scowl and started fading too.


	12. Chapter 12

**Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree**

**Chapter Twelve**

The wind whipped through Natasha's hair, as she road down a path she'd never been on before. She thought on Jarrod and what Nick had said about his brother never getting as far into the story as he had. She thought on the many experiences she'd had with those from the other side, some were able to move on and others were…as far as she knew….still lingering around. 'Oh, Jarrod, where are you?' She wanted desperately to find him and help him move on. Just as she finished thinking about that desire, she felt Nick materializing behind her.

"You found him?" She asked as Nick placed his hands over hers and took a hold of the reigns, turning the horse off the well ridden path and onto a barely visible one; the trees growing thicker the farther on they rode.

"Yes, but I don't believe it." Nick answered as he thought on his older brother and where he'd found him.

"Well?" Natasha asked when Nick did not continue.

"You'll see in a second." Nick answered as Natasha ducked to miss a tree limb. Naturally, the branch had no affect on Nick as he simply passed through it. Sure enough, within a couple of seconds the dark haired rancher had stopped the horse; they were on the top of a small hill. From where they were at Natasha could see Jarrod standing fifty feet from what looked like a lone headstone. It stood at the base of another rolling hill. The sun was hitting the stone, causing light to bounce off it.

"My baby brother loved this spot. He was always bringing his books here to study when he wasn't home." Nick told Natasha. "Only," he shook his head, "Jarrod's only been to the grave once, and that was the day of the funeral."

Natasha was shocked. "He's never visited it?"

"Never," Nick answered. "I had hoped you'd get through to him, only I never thought he'd ever get anywhere close to the grave."

Natasha spurred her horse on. She just hoped Jarrod wouldn't disappear on them. By the time she was within ten feet of Jarrod the man was kneeling on the ground, his head hung down while Nick was standing roughly five feet behind him.

Dismounting her horse, Natasha tethered the animal to a nearby tree and made her way over to Jarrod. Kneeling down, she spoke softly, hoping she knew what she was doing. "Jarrod," she said as she also looked at Nick and tilted her head in such a manner as to send him a silent message; one that said 'Come over here; this if for you too.' Curious, Nick was soon standing next to his brother. "Listen to me. The first day I was here there…" she paused and then said, "Heath and Gene both appeared to me." She felt Jarrod stiffen while Nick's face registered with shock. Their brothers had moved on and, as far as they knew, were never around. "They asked me to help the two of you. Please, I can't do that unless you tell Nick and I everything. Please," she quietly begged him, "Tell us what happened to fill you with such guilt, and don't simply say it's your fault Gene died. Tell us why you think that."

Jarrod, who had shocked himself by heading for the grave he'd avoided for so long…and still couldn't go close enough to read the words he knew were engraved on the stone…slowly he lifted his head up. He turned his head and looked at Natasha, some disbelief showing in his eyes. "Gene came to you? He asked you to help me?" How could that be? Surely Gene knew the truth, knew why Esmeralda had known there would be no one around that night. That is, no one but Gene. He had felt sure that his youngest brother would hold it against him for all eternity. At that moment, a part of him wanted to scream at Natasha to take such lies and leave; leave the ranch, leave Nick and, most of all, leave him alone. However, he couldn't do it. How could he when, deep inside, he knew their visitor spoke the truth.

"Yes, for just a couple of seconds while I was in his room." She answered gently. "He said 'help them'." She looked at Jarrod, up at Nick, who was simply staring at her, and then back at Jarrod. "Whatever happened, he doesn't blame you. I can say that because I felt, and saw, nothing but genuine love and concern."

"And Heath?" Nick asked, thinking on the blonde haired brother who had been at his side as he passed away in nineteen-fifteen after suffering a fall from his horse.

Natasha smiled, admitted that Heath who had appeared to her in her dreams and pushed her to come to the ranch in the first place. "_I'm glad you finally came. Please, stay and help. __One can't move on until he lets go and the other won't until he does. Please, help them_._"_ She replied as she looked at both brothers. "Those were his exact words. Please," she again begged Jarrod. "I can't help if I don't know the whole story. Though, I will say right now that everything I've heard so far only convinces me to agree with Nick…any guilt that exists belongs on this woman Esmeralda Mitchell, not you."

Jarrod shut his eyes, lowered his head and, for a split second, began to fade. Without thinking, Nick and Natasha both moved a bit closer and said Jarrod's name at the same time. When Jarrod stopped fading, and went back to 'normal', they both let out the breath they had not realized they'd been holding. Though, Nick out of concern for Jarrod, said, "It's true you need to talk about it only," he shrugged his shoulders, "If you want to wait, I'll understand." He looked at Natasha with a stern glare. She didn't have to ask what he was trying to tell her.

"I can't force you to tell us, Jarrod. I just ask you to please seriously consider it." _'If you don't, I'll just hang around the ranch with Nick and yourself until you do'_ was a thought she added only to herself.

Jarrod might have shut back up only, having gone this far, and being this close to Gene's grave…he sighed and shook his head, keeping his eyes closed. "No, I'll tell you the rest now." He had to or he'd never be able to, and Jarrod knew that.

**The next chapter will hold mature content. However, I have worked hard to be careful with it...as I did not want to have to put a M rating on it.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Three**

_ Previously: Jarrod shut his eyes, lowered his head and, for a split second, began to fade. Without thinking, Nick and Natasha both moved a bit closer and said Jarrod's name at the same time. When Jarrod stopped fading, and went back to 'normal', they both let out the breath they had not realized they'd been holding. Though, Nick out of concern for Jarrod, said, "It's true you need to talk about it only," he shrugged his shoulders, "If you want to wait, I'll understand." He looked at Natasha with a stern glare. She didn't have to ask what he was trying to tell her._

"I can't force you to tell us, Jarrod. I just ask you to please seriously consider it." 'I'll just hang around the ranch until you do' was a thought she added only to herself.

Jarrod might have shut back up only, having gone this far, and being this close to Gene's grave…he sighed and shook his head, keeping his eyes closed. "No, I'll tell you the rest now." He had to or he'd never be able to, and Jarrod knew that.

** 75 years ago…  
**  
Jarrod was furious at his brothers. How dare they say Esmeralda couldn't be trusted! Unaware of the suspicions that had begun to arise in other people's minds, due to minor discrepancies that had started revealing themselves here and there in various situations, all he could think was 'What on earth has she ever done?' Take one day? Was Gene crazy? No, the more he thought on the 'injustice' that was being done to Esmeralda, the more determined he was to be with her…without investigating anything. By the time he reached the small home Esmeralda shared with her great uncle any requests, from any of his brothers, had been completely shut out.

"Jarrod!" Esmeralda, surprised to see Jarrod on her doorstep, stepped aside. Though, it was a coincidence she wasn't about to turn down. She'd seen Eugene in town and heard him asking questions the day before, ones that made her nervous. She had to find out what was going on with 'that boy'…what did he know? She didn't really care what he thought of her; she just wanted him quiet as (unaware of other people's growing suspicions) she thought she was on the verge of collecting a lot of money from the businessmen in town and leaving Stockton. Of course, as she collected the money she would lead them to think she was collecting it for Jarrod to invest for them, but what did she care about that? With this being the case, Eugene's silence was of extreme importance and she knew one sure way to silence him if she needed too. Only, she needed more information before she did anything drastic, information she now hoped to get from Jarrod. "My uncle's not here, but if you trust me," she put on her best smile and sweetest voice, "you are more than welcome to come in."

"I wouldn't want anyone talking about you." Jarrod was once again mesmerized by the woman who stood in front of him. "I mean, I wouldn't want anyone spreading lies about you, Emmy."

Esmeralda laughed, as she took a hold of his hand and pulled gently on his arm. "Come on in." He did as she asked.

"Coffee?" Esmeralda asked as she started to head for the kitchen.

"No, no thanks," Jarrod took his hat off his head and toss it down on the coffee table. "I actually wanted to talk to you about a serious matter."

Thinking about Gene, Esmeralda might have thought she'd been found out, only Jarrod looked more nervous than child at Christmas. As she thought on it some more she felt her heart skip a beat. She just knew what he wanted to talk about and, while she was in no way interested, why not take advantage of the situation? It's not like she hadn't been studying him over the past few months. Hadn't she time and time again played games with him? That is; hadn't she led him on more than once without his even realizing only to have him pulling away and apologizing for something she, herself had started? Only this time, she smiled wickedly to herself, she'd make sure she not only got her cake, but the icing that went on it as well.

"Now?" she started walking towards Jarrod's in such a manner as to send very subtle messages, ones she knew would be heard even if he didn't' know he was listening. "Is something wrong?" she almost whispered as she ran her hands down the front of her shirt front, making it look like she was attempting to brush some lint off it yet, as she did so, she stretched the garment seductively around her full feminine form.

"Well no," Jarrod, who was picking up on her feminine wiles and messages without even realizing it, rubbed the back of his neck. "It's just that…" he felt his heart beat a bit faster as he was starting feel some heat rise up inside him when she stopped a mere three feet away with the look of pure innocence in her eyes, something she was an expert at putting there. No, he told himself, he had to get a grip on himself. The last thing he wanted to do was find himself trying to seduce Esmeralda just to satisfy his desires.

"Just what, Jarrod?" Esmeralda asked in a soft, gentle voice as she laid her hand upon his arm in 'a show of sincere concern', though she made sure her fingers pressed down upon his arms just enough to send more subtle messages. The fact that Jarrod stiffened ever so slightly, made it so she could see that she was succeeding in what she was doing without Jarrod realizing it; it had her smirking like a Cheshire cat inside.

"The other day, when we went riding, you said you hadn't decided whether or not to stay in Stockton." He reached up and absent mindedly took a hold of her shoulders. "I wanted to ask if you'd seriously think about staying." It was an action Esmeralda fully anticipated, but did not it show.

Esmeralda purposely took the tiniest step forward and asked quietly as she looked up into Jarrod's eyes, slowly placing her hands on his sides, and rested them lightly on each side of his waist. She had learned early on what it did to him. Sure enough, she saw the struggle in his eyes grow. She purposely chose words that would have duel meaning. "Are you saying you're interested in me enough to want to see more of me?"

Inwardly, Jarrod cursed himself as he pulled her to him and lowered his head. Within a matter of seconds they were kissing each other for all they were worth. By the time he found his way to her neck, Jarrod was torn between continuing the talk he'd just tried to start and showing her just how he felt.

For Esmeralda's part, her movements were anything but spontaneous; no, they were planned and very precise. When she could tell Jarrod was about to pull back, she made her move, ensuring he would not stop. "Jarrod," she pressed herself against him, moved just right and put on the act of her life, "what about your family? Gene, he's turning them against me. I don't know why." As she spoke and moved she slipped her hands and arms inside his jacket and began working on turning up the heat as she caressed his sides and back. She'd learned early on that if the fire was hot enough, a man would spill almost anything without half thinking.

It worked. Instead of pulling back as he had always done Jarrod let out a loud groan and allowed Esmeralda to continue working him over. As the heat rose higher, he was cursing himself as he blamed himself for the seduction that was taking place, but he was at a point that he was powerless to stop it too; he needed her too badly. "Don't worry 'bout them." He managed to tell her as he knelt down, pulling her down with him. "We're going on an overnight camping trip tonight. I'll talk to them. Get them to see how wrong they are."

"What about Gene?" Esmeralda slid her hands underneath his shirt and managed to speak between their passionate kisses as he lay her down, even though it was becoming difficult to do so.

Jarrod let out another groan as her hands and fingers caressed his skin. He confessed that, due to his upcoming trip to Europe, Gene would be at home, alone, studying before he left for Europe. He then promised he would deal with Gene when they got back around seven in the morning. "I…I'll make sure t...this thing with him gets s...settled." He promised after his mouth found its way to the side of her neck once more, confessing he was sure his brother was looking into her background as he did so. With his mouth on her neck and his hands now exploring places he'd only dreamed about in his sleep, Jarrod did not see the evil grin that spread across Esmeralda's face as they continued falling into the fire until it had consumed them both.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter Fourteen**_

**Previously:**

_With his mouth on her neck and his hands now exploring places he'd only dreamed about in his sleep, Jarrod did not see the evil grin that spread across Esmeralda's face as they continued falling into the fire until it had consumed them both._

_**1950…**_

"And everyone said she was a lady!" Nick roared his eyes full of fury. How dare 'that woman' use his oldest brother the way she had! How dare she make him think he was the guilty party! "She was simply a dance hall girl in disguise! She used you to get information on Gene!" Nick let out some more cuss words only to be silenced by Natasha's silent reprimand.

Jarrod sat up straight and started to object, to point out that it had been him that had seduced Esmeralda only to have Natasha speak up and she placed her hand over his. "No, Jarrod. Listen to what you just told us, what she did from the moment you walked in that door. Everything she said or did."

Jarrod opened his mouth and then shut it again as he felt as if cold water had hit him straight in the face. The realization of what Natasha said sunk in, and sunk in deep. His eyes widened as he went over everything that had been said before, while and after he and Esmeralda given themselves to each other. A furious, angry look appeared in his eyes as he realized that Esmeralda had indeed geared everything that took place, the seduction and the conversation, to the point that she'd have all the information she need to get rid of the only opponent she was aware of without a problem. He let out scream and hit the ground with his fist as he started cursing her name and the loss she'd caused him and his family.

"Let it out, Jarrod." Nick was holding him before Jarrod knew it while Natasha place her hand on his back, even if she all she felt was air pressure. "It's like I've been telling you all these years. SHE killed him; you had absolutely _nothing _to do with it!"

While Jarrod now knew how Esmeralda had purposely used him, he still felt extreme guilt that she'd succeeded in getting the information from him. He cried out, "But I let my physical needs overtake my common sense! I told her! I told her Gene…" He started shaking uncontrollably and tried to continue talk, but failed.

"Jarrod," Nick growled in an uncharacteristically low volume, "it wasn't just your physical needs that let Esmeralda do what she did! Think about it. You were at the lowest point you'd ever been at. The only other woman besides Beth, the only one that had the ability to hold your attention in _all_ aspects of life, including having an in-depth intellectual conversation, had rejected you. While you tried to bury yourself in your work as a way to fill_ all_ those needs, it just wasn't working. That's not your fault; you were only flesh and blood!" Nick again growled as he said, "You were flat out lonely in _every _aspect of a man's life. Esmeralda could see that and used it against you! Jarrod," Nick said as his voice softened and he squeezed Jarrod's shoulder, "you were only part of her plan. How were you to know her intentions? She used you; used you her own personal pleasure and to get information that would enable her to kill our brother and finish robbing the businesses in Stockton. You have to stop blaming yourself; she could have easily chosen anyone of us to spin her web of lies and deception if we had been in the same spot as you were at that time."

Nick and Natasha were both relieved when Nick's words had the desired effect and Jarrod began bawling like a newborn baby, crying out Gene's name more than once…something he had not done since the day they had found their baby brother dead on his bedroom floor. Nick held onto his oldest brother with all his might as Jarrod's sobs continued, but his tears were now tinted with resignation and a load of release.

By the time Jarrod's sobbing had slowed down, Natasha could see Gene standing next to his grave. "Look, Jarrod, Nick," she said, though it came out in more of a whisper than anything. "We have company."

Nick and Jarrod looked up. It was all Natasha could do not to break out in happy giggles as Nick's eyes widened and Jarrod jumped to his feet, his face full of both joy and disbelief; he let out a scream, "GENE!" He ran towards his younger brother who too moved towards his brother.

Before Natasha could count to ten Jarrod and Gene were embracing each other for all they were worth, while Nick stood not two feet from them. Then, to her surprise, Natasha saw the rest of the family join the happy group. Each took their turn embracing both Jarrod and Nick.

Natasha expected them to simply leave only, to her surprise; Victoria and Tom left the group and closed the space between them though it was Victoria who did the speaking. "Thanks for helping our two oldest sons."

Natasha blushed a little; she didn't feel like she'd really done anything. Still, to be polite, she said, "You're welcome." Then, out of curiosity, she asked, "What happened to Miss Mitchell?"

Victoria stiffened slightly, and then she relaxed. It was only natural for Miss Ballard to ask such a thing. "It appears she found out quite by accident that a couple of the businessmen had caught on to her activities and had definite proof as to what she'd been up to, so she left town in a hurry. The law started looking for her because of the evidence the business gave Fred." Victoria put her hands on her hips.

"When was it discovered that it was she who killed Eugene?" Natasha asked wanting to know all the details.

Victoria sighed. "Nick and Heath seemed to know the moment we found him dead on his bedroom floor only they had no proof. Audra and myself could only agree she was a prime suspect, but we had no way of proving it either." She sighed again, and said, "Naturally, Jarrod needed to believe it was someone else. Only, after we learned she fled town to avoid prosecution for attempting to swindle the businessmen, he had to admit she might be guilty. Knowing didn't come until a few years later. One of our former ranch hands who Nick had fired had been fighting his conscience and finally stepped forward. He told Fred that as he had come back to the ranch with the intention of trying to get Nick to rehire him. He said he saw Esmeralda slip into the house via the French doors in the Billiard room. Eugene's window was open making it so he could hear the two yelling and then," Victoria's voice took on a hard edge, "He said he heard a gunshot and saw Esmeralda running out the front door not minutes later." Victoria shook her head, "He told Fred he didn't come forward at the time because he feared he'd be blamed since he and Eugene had words before he, the ranch hand, left the ranch. Needless to say the law really started trying to find her after that." Victoria glanced towards all her children who were once again laughing and talking as they had in the past. "When we learned a few months later that she'd fled only to be captured, used, and then ruthlessly tortured and killed by a few renegade Indians, I wasn't exactly shedding any tears. I mean, by that time Jarrod was just going through the motions of living and I put full blame on that woman. As far as I was concerned life had caught up with her and gave her what she had sowed. Now," Victoria smiled as she and Tom started to turn towards their family, "I think we best leave. Goodbye,"

Natasha felt her stomach churn. When she said she loved history, she wasn't lying, but she knew full well how cruel some of the Indians could be to one they considered they're enemy. "Goodbye." Natasha smiled as Victoria and Tom rejoined their sons and daughter and then watched as the family all disappeared. As they did so, a smile spread across Natasha's face. It was about time they were all together again.

**Epilogue to Follow**


	15. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The house was far too quiet, decided Natasha, as she walked down the hallway passing one bedroom after another. Each room now held a warm and peaceful feeling. On one hand she was ecstatic; after all, Jarrod Barkley was no longer a tormented soul. He'd let go of the past and moved on. On the other hand, she thought as she stopped in front of the one bedroom she realized she'd never been in, it also meant the dark haired rancher had moved on. She sighed; she'd wanted to get to know him better, but had not had the time.

Slowly she opened the door and stepped inside. Gone was the anger and frustration she'd felt when she first arrived, for that she was grateful. As she walked past the dresser that had been his, she ran her hand over it and then made her way to the bed and sat down, her mind on what would become of the ranch and the house now since there was no one to scare anyone away….especially since Nick had once commented that it was all his nieces, nephews and their children could do to run the other ranch, the ranch that Heath had started once he married. At that moment all she could see Nick's smile, along with his dimples which had constantly reached out and grabbed her attention. All she could hear was Nick's spurs hitting the floor and him talking about the good old days on the ranch; his ranch. Natasha couldn't help but hurt inside as she thought of the day the Barkley descendants might actually get rid of 'his' ranch. If only…her thoughts were interrupted when Natasha found herself sitting up straight as she felt people materialize behind her.

However, she jumped ten feet in the air as a loud voice boomed behind her, "Our descendants don't want to sell the land."

She whirled around and landed on her feet to see Nick and Jarrod standing on the other side of the bed, both were smiling from ear to ear. "I… you both moved on!" She cried out in disbelief.

Jarrod looked at Nick, who simply nodded as if giving his okay for something. Exactly what it was, was something Natasha found out the moment Jarrod walked around the bed and started talking.

"We let go, but I'm not moving on until I thank you for playing a huge part in stopping the whirlwind in the thorn tree." Jarrod paused and then said as his eyes sparkled with a happiness that had eluded him for so many years, "It feels good to know I will be doing more than wandering around this house as if I were a man behind bars." He went on to explain that Heath and Gene had told him that all deceased persons were given jobs to do. He went on to explain that these jobs could include anything from helping some relative or a complete stranger. "You would call it being a guardian angel I suppose." He then told her that he'd already talked with a supervisor per say and been given his first task. Though, he was being allowed to thank Natasha first. "I told him I just had to see you before I moved on." Jarrod smiled and continued, "I was assured that, if for some reason, I felt the need to visit this place or any of the Barkley descendants, I could. That is, as long as it didn't interfere with whatever job I've been given. I need to leave now. It seems like I have one very stubborn great niece who needs me."

"Goodbye." Natasha smiled though she quickly became confused as Jarrod glanced at Nick with a look that said 'I hope you know what you're doing' and then disappeared as Nick began walking around the bed, stopping only a few feet away from her. "What was going on?"

"I've been to see my nephew and his son who it seems has a similar gift as yours." Nick couldn't help but smile as he spoke. "They have, at times, had visits from people who have passed on. I told them about you, about all you did for Jarrod and all about the work you've done around here." Nick lifted his hand and placed his palm against her cheek, sending tiny shivers down her spine, and said softly. "I told him I could see in you what was needed to run this ranch for him and the family, told him to not let you being a woman stop him from talking to you. He's agreed to come here to see you. Please, listen to him. I don't want you to leave." He hesitated and then added, "I want to be able to visit you when I drop by which I will do as often as possible. I…I'd like to get to know you better even if I can never have you the way I would if I were still living on the top side of the grass as it were. I promise, if the day comes you meet someone who could make you even happier than you are now, I won't do anything to scare them away." The fact that he was telling the truth showed as bright as the noon day sun. How could it not? The look of a man who meant every word he spoke was in his eyes. That and the fact that he caressed her cheek with his thumb had Natasha's mind whirling. She couldn't believe this conversation was taking place. He trusted her enough to want her to work his ranch? He would drop in now and then? Most of all, he wanted to get to know her even better? An old memory ran through her mind. _'Sometimes, I fear your gift. Why?" Her grandmother sat on her porch and looked at Natasha, "Because, I fear that one of these days you'll tell me you've actually seen a ghost, spirit whatever word you wish to use, and that the two of you want to hang out with each other. What would that give you, besides being labeled a lunatic and the fate of being an old spinster? I mean, who will want to marry someone who talks to themselves? And," the old woman had pointed her finger at Natasha, "That's what people will say you are doing even if it's not!'_

"I'm crazy you know." Natasha chuckled as her eyes started dancing.

Nick started laughing as he turned towards the door. "My nephew and his son won't be here for a couple of hours; let's go for a ride. I have your horse already saddled." It was a request that Natasha more than gladly granted, and a request that would lead her to accept the job offer made to her by Michael and James Barkley, grandson and great grandson of Heath Barkley…one that included moving into the old Barkley mansion.

As the years passed many people though it was sad that she lived alone in such a huge mansion, but it never bothered Natasha. Why should it? After all, like Jarrod Barkley said, the whirlwind had stopped and…in spite of what others thought….she wasn't alone for Nick kept his promise and was a frequent visitor to the ranch.


End file.
